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Opening date of Evergreen Line on track for December 2nd

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The long-awaited Evergreen Line Skytrain line opens at noon on December 2, 2016, after over a decade of planning and construction.

The new 11 kilometre line will run from Lougheed Town Centre on the Burnaby-Coquitlam border, to Lafarge Lake-Douglas station, just past Coquitlam Centre. In all, there are six new Skytrain stations along the Evergreen Line in Port Moody and Coquitlam.

In preparation for the opening of the Evergreen Line, Translink made some changes this past October to the Millennium and Expo Line routes. The Expo Line now has two routes: one train that travels between Waterfront to King George stations, and another train that travels between Waterfront and Production Way-University.

The Millennium Line no longer travels from Waterfront Station — instead, it travels between VCC-Clark station and Lougheed Town Centre station, and will continue northeast on the new Evergreen Line once it opens on December 2, 2016.

Evergreen Line map
Map of the Evergreen Line extension, a new 11 km Skytrain line running from Burnaby to Coquitlam, via Port Moody.

 

Once the line is open, commuters will be able to travel from Coquitlam City Centre to Lougheed Town Centre in about 15 minutes. For people in the Tri-Cities, the opening of the line will be a game changer, allowing people to get downtown from Coquitlam in 30-40 minutes.

In this video, a construction worker takes us a on tour of the line, from Lafarge Lake-Douglas station to Lougheed Town Centre, complete with commentary:

The Evergreen Line cost $1.43-billion, and once it’s online, B.C. will have the longest fully-automated rapid transit line in the world. It’s expected to transport 70,000 passengers per day by 2021, according to provincial government estimates.

Docking stations for Vancouver bike share installed

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Vancouver’s long-awaited bike share system, Mobi, is slowly but surely becoming a reality.

Mobi is scheduled to roll out sometime this summer, bringing 1,500 bikes and 150 stations to the downtown peninsula, Kitsilano, and parts of the west side and east Vancouver.

The launch was originally scheduled for mid-June, but that has been delayed until later this summer.

Early adopter memberships with reduced pricing are available until July 31, at $99 for the standard, and $129 for the plus membership. Regular prices are $180 and $240, respectively.

CTV News noted the regular membership prices are more than double what the system in Seattle, called Pronto, charges. 

Visitors will also be able to purchase day or hour-long passes at street kiosks at the docking stations.

All bikes will come with a helmet, as well as a cable lock.

The City of Vancouver is contributing $5 million over five years to the bike share program, which is operated by U.S.-based CycleHop.

$1 million in start-up funding was also contributed by the city, as well as an expected $500,000 annually in operational costs.

A Mobi bike share docking station has been installed at Cambie and Beatty in downtown Vancouver.
A Mobi bike share docking station has been installed at Cambie and Beatty in downtown Vancouver.

New downtown Vancouver bike lanes take shape

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The City of Vancouver is making good on its plans to upgrade several downtown bike lanes and add a couple more.

Work on upgrading the Beatty Street bike lane is already complete, with a curb now separating cyclists from traffic and parked cars. Previously, just a painted line marked the borders of the bike lane and cyclists were vulnerable to getting “doored.”

A separated, protected bike lane has also been added on Cambie Street from Dunsmuir all the way to the steam clock at the corner of Water Street and Cambie Street.

But the biggest change likely noticed by downtown cyclists and commuters is the two new protected bike lanes on both Smithe and Nelson streets, running from the Cambie Street Bridge, west to Richards Street.

Both of these new bike lanes replaced a previously well-used lane of traffic — which, while great for cyclists — is undoubtedly raising the blood pressure of some drivers, especially during rush hour.

All of these upgrades come ahead of the city’s launch of its first bike share program later this month. The bike share is called Mobi.

Take a look at the new bike lane on Nelson Street in Yaletown, now nearly complete:

Downtown Vancouver bike lane
Richards and Nelson Street bike lane.
Downtown Vancouver bike lanes
Map of this summer’s downtown bike lane upgrades.
Downtown Vancouver bike lanes
Planters along new Nelson Street bike lane in Yaletown.
Downtown Vancouver bike lanes
The new Nelson Street bike lane in Yaletown.

Vancouver bike share Mobi tentative prices

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Vancouver’s upcoming bike share program, “Mobi”, is now taking early registrations. There are two founding member plans available for sign up now:

  • Standard $99 plan offering unlimited 30 minute or less rides for one year (regular price $180/yr)
  • Plus $129 plan offering unlimited 60 minute or less rides for one year (regular price $240/yr)

Both plans offer founding member benefits including a special founding member key, discount on helmets from local bike shops (although helmets are included free in the rentals) and an invite to the launch party.

Plus, first access to the bikes, scheduled to launch June 30. To sign up, go to signup.vancouverbikeshare.ca

The city announced the highly-anticipated bike share program’s name on May 20. Mobi (pronounced mo-bee) will launch with the tag line, “Bikes we share.”

Vancouver bike share
Mobi is the name of Vancouver’s new bike share program.

In addition to the early adopter plans, we’ve got some good news on Vancouver’s bike share program. We’ve learned that the proposed monthly rate will be $15 per month for unlimited rides under 30 minutes.

It’s important to note that this new pricing model is still tentative and yet to be approved. 

Mia Kohout, general manager of Vancouver Bike Share Inc., also shared with us some new details on the rollout. There will be a tentative launch for “founding members” on June 15, followed by a June 30 system-wide launch.

The official branding for the bike share program will also be unveiled mid-May, after receiving submissions from the public on the branding. The City of Vancouver is still accepting suggestions for locations of the kiosks, to add your preferred location, for example outside of your work or home, go to www.vancouverbikeshare.ca

VICE on Vancouver’s unreal real estate market: Part 1-3

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VICE and local credit union Vancity have partnered on a new video series, exploring Vancouver’s “surreal estate market.”

The series looks at the issues facing young people and first-time buyers in the Lower Mainland. Part one features a group of young adults being forced to move from the house they are living in due to an imminent redevelopment. Foreign ownership of homes and condos in the city is lamented, with one young man saying he doesn’t see a future for himself in Vancouver.

Part two features Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and NDP MLA and housing critic David Eby, who both say the provincial government needs to take action to reduce speculation and foreign ownership.

And in part three, the host meets a microloft resident living in a space that’s roughly 250 square feet, two people who share a Victorian-era mansion with eight others, and a couple who have opted out of the market completely by living in a converted camper van with their two dogs.

The series is part of an ad campaign by Vancity with the tagline “Don’t give up.”

Undoubtedly that’s how a lot of young people in Vancouver are feeling these days.

Watch parts 1-3 of the series, Surreal Estate, below:

Part 1: Inside Vancouver’s Skyrocketing Housing Market

Part 2: What Vancouver Is Doing About the Shady Housing Market

Part 3: How Vancouver’s Young People Are Working Around the Real Estate Crisis

Vancouver Bike to Work Week May 30-June 5, 2016

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Vancouver’s popular Bike to Work Week kicks off at the end of this month, running from May 30 to June 5, 2016. The event, organized by the cycling advocacy group, HUB Cycling Coalition, hopes to encourage more people to commute via bicycle, by showing them how easy (and fun) it can be.

2016 is the 10th year for the event in Vancouver, and there are events across B.C. Last year, 34,000 people participated across the province, collectively burning over 40,000,000 calories and saving 289,333 kilograms of CO2 from entering the atmosphere.

There are some fantastic prizes up for grabs this year, including a trip for two to the cycling capital of the world, Amsterdam. As well, every bike trip logged at www.bikehub.ca will be eligible to win one of five brand new bicycles, one for each day of Bike to Work Week in Vancouver. There are also lots of other great prizes, including panniers, cycling apparel, pizza parties and more.

So what are you waiting for? Go to www.bikehub.ca to register yourself, or get your co-workers or friends together and create a team. You’ll be smiling as you sail by commuters stuck in construction on the Burrard Street bridge during rush hour, and you may even win a fantastic prize.

Bike to Work Week Vancouver
Some of the many benefits of biking to work. Credit: HUB Cycling Coalition

For information other Bike to Work Week events happening across B.C., click here.

Map of new bike lanes coming to downtown Vancouver

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New protected bike lanes under construction this summer ahead of bike share launch

The City of Vancouver is planning a major upgrade of the downtown bike lane network ahead of the launch of the city’s first bike share system this summer.

To help support this summer’s launch of Vancouver’s first public bike share system, the city is planning on adding several new protected lanes along major routes downtown, as well as improving existing routes.

If you’re wondering what a protected bike lane is, they are generally are separated from traffic by concrete medians and planters, bicycle parking corrals, or vehicle parking spots. Hornby Street is an example of a protected bike lane.

The protected bike lane is shown on Hornby Street, utilizing a planter to separate cyclists from traffic.
The protected bike lane is shown on Hornby Street, utilizing a planter to separate cyclists from traffic.

As you can see from the map above, new protected bike lanes will be added along Smithe Street from Beatty to Richards, and Nelson Street, also from Beatty to Richards. This will improve connections to the Cambie Bridge. A new bike lane will also be added along Cambie, from Dunsmuir to Water Street. Upgrades will also take place on Beatty Street.

The City of Vancouver says the work will be completed by this summer, and is already underway.

More information is available at: www.vancouver.ca/downtownbikenetwork

City of Vancouver releases Arbutus Corridor greenway video tour

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Arbutus Greenway to link False Creek to Fraser River

You may remember back in March when the City of Vancouver announced it had reached an agreement with CP Rail to buy the Arbutus Corridor for $55 million.

Vancouver has big plans for the Arbutus Corridor, which runs all the way from False Creek to the Fraser River, through the posh west side. There are plans for a greenway, and today the city released a neat YouTube video tour of the 11km corridor as it looks today:

A tug-of-war between the city and CP had been raging for years. At one time, CP said the land along the dormant rail corridor was worth $400 million. After several years of threats to rip up gardens planted by residents along the unused railway, an independent appraiser helped the city and CP come to a deal.

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